Habits and Beliefs

Everywhere I look people seem to be talking about habits and beliefs. In the essence of if you can’t beat them join them … here we are joining them

Bit of a strange post for a career site? Habits and beliefs? Not as odd as you might think!

When you look around at people you know and those that you don’t, but who catch your eye, can you see any correlation between their intelligence and their income? Is one thing linked to another via their family connections? Is there an obvious equation – x circumstance + y condition = z income?

You know that income is not necessarily linked to intelligence because there are a lot of PhD’s and Professors out there who don’t seem to be earning multiple millions. Then you look at musicians and footballers and know that the secret to income levels is most definitely not linked to an IQ based formula (although of course there are some extremely clever musicians and footballers … they are just typically not in the same league mentally as the PhD’s and Professors)

So why did I start this article talking about habits and beliefs?

Good question!

You recognise that the homeless person is not less intelligent than you in a lot of cases and that the well-paid executive or self-made entrepreneur is not more intelligent than you in a lot of cases either. The thing that sets them apart, income wise, are their habits and beliefs.

When you adopt certain habits and beliefs your success is guaranteed. Or not, as the case may be. We could jettison off onto a quantum physics conversation here but let’s not. Let’s stay where we are.

When your level of engagement is from a point of interest you will try some of the time and not at others. When your level of engagement is from true commitment you will do ANYTHING. Is that going to change some outcomes in your life? Of course it is!

So, we still need to pin this to habits and beliefs. So far we’ve talked around it a fair bit. So what is the full story?

Your habits and beliefs are the foundations of everything you do in your life. When you do certain things habitually and you believe in things completely, then the results will show up in your life. What things? Well that depends on what your habits and beliefs are.

Let’s look at something really easy to spot. One of my favourite places to go for analogies; the gym. So, you believe that going to the gym and training at a medium to hard level is going to get you in shape and you habitually go and work out so that you can feel it. What happens? You get in shape!

Seem too easy? Look at the alternatives. You believe that if you go to the gym and work out at a medium to hard level you will get in shape, but you don’t form a habit. So some weeks you go once and other weeks not at all. Followed by more weeks of not at all. Are you in shape? Well, anything is a shape, but you are still the same shape you were before we started this thought process, agree?

Another alternative. You go to the gym regularly, so you have the habit, but you don’t really believe it is going to make any difference, so you are a bit hit and miss about how you train. When it is hard you tend to lighten the load or ease the pressure. Are you in shape now? Yes, you got it, only the same shape you were before.

So you see it is habits AND beliefs that make the winning combination. One on their own is not going to net you the results.

Wherever you are right now is a result of your habits and beliefs to this point

Want a different result? You need to create new habits and beliefs. Sometimes this is easier to do in the abstract. So, what would a person that was experiencing the success I would like to achieve do now? What would they do habitually? What might their beliefs be? How can I adopt the right habits and beliefs to achieve their outcome?

Remember, a belief is only a thought you keep thinking and any habit can be created by consciously repeating something for thirty days.

Look out 2011, I am on my way and we are going to rock! Are you with me?

If you understand the power of the creating habits and beliefs but are unsure how to foster the right ones and to make them work for you in the way that you want them to, then you are in the right place. Email me now and I will work with you on a strategy … we are going to make it easy, fun and best of all, we are going to make it work for you!